This relates in general to electronic circuitry, and in particular to a method and circuitry for controlling a depletion-mode transistor.
In many situations, depletion-mode (“d-mode”) transistors, such as gallium nitride (“GaN”) high-electron-mobility transistors (“HEMTs”) and silicon carbide (“SiC”) junction gate field-effect transistors (“JFETs”), have switching performance that is superior to enhancement-mode (“e-mode”) transistors. Nevertheless, in some power electronic circuit implementations, a normally “on” d-mode transistor (e.g., whose VGS=0V) may raise concerns about safety. By comparison, a normally “off” e-mode transistor may help to substantially prevent cross-conduction (such as short circuiting) in response to certain fault conditions.